Vendor Cards: XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Overclocked
by Josh Venning on August 16, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
The fact that the EVGA KO and the XFX Overclocked perform the same out of the box means that there's now a tie for the best card in terms of performance. Ranking the cards that we've tested from the fastest to the slowest looks something like this:XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Overclocked & EVGA e- GeForce 7800 GTX KO
BFG 7800GTX OC
EVGA e- GeForce GTX (450MHz)
MSI NX7800GTX (and NVIDIA reference card)
Note that technically, we managed to overclock the EVGA KO a little more than the XFX, but as this can be a subjective process, we give them a tie for first. Also, we'd like to stress again that the difference in performance between these cards is very small.
Let's talk about prices for a second. We understand that NVIDIA's 7800 GTX series is not a card for people who are on a budget. These cards represent the absolute best in gaming performance, and at anywhere from $500 to $600, their prices reflect that. We also know that every little bit of money that you can save when buying a card is important, so we try to look at the best overall value (given the price at the time of the article) when judging the cards.
We place a very high importance on performance with these individual 7800 GTXs, and the reason for that is simple enough. Those in the market for a 7800 GTX are obviously looking for the most powerful card available, and we feel that these same people would be willing to pay a little more for the added performance of a factory overclocked card. Obviously, how much more you pay compared to the actual increase in performance is what it boils down to, which can be tricky considering how card prices are constantly changing.
That being said, here is what we recommend. If you still don't have Battlefield 2 and want to get a good 7800 GTX with BF2 bundle, then definitely go with the XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Overclocked (with BF2 bundle), which is available for about $550 right now. You could also get the EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GTX with Bf2 bundle for about $530, but you won't get the higher factory overclock of the XFX. Strictly looking at the cards themselves though, our pick for the best 7800 GTX would be the EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO for $575. The XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Overclocked ($530) came in a very close second, and the $45 difference will make some people choose the XFX, especially given that they are the two fastest 7800's right now and perform exactly the same out of the box. But there are other factors that we considered when making this decision.
Firstly, as we mentioned earlier in the article, the EVGA KO has a modified heat sink and RAM sinks on the back, thus making it a little better candidate for user overclocking. Second, we are still impressed with EVGA's warranty policy and feel that this gives it a definite edge over the other manufacturers right now. Thirdly, the modified heat sink on the front of the card does more than just look good and dissipate heat; it also looks like a very effective protection against physical damage to the board. We realize that these are all very small things individually, but when put together, they add up. At the time that this article was written, the EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GTX (450MHz) with BF2 had gone back up in price to $530, and for $20 more, you can get the XFX Overclocked with BF2 plus a significant performance boost, but this is weighed against EVGA's quality warranty. We feel that the BFG 7800 GTX OC ($535) isn't a bad deal considering its performance, but again, we feel that if you are going to drop that much money on a card, you might as well pay another $40 and get the added benefits. Those who want the absolute cheapest 7800 GTX should probably go with the MSI NX7800 GTX. At $480, this is the cheapest one, and it will still make the bundled Chronicles of Riddick (and all other games) look great.
EVGA has proven itself with the 7800 GTX KO, and we feel that this is the best overall investment out of all the 7800's that we've tested. You may have to do a little searching to find one of these, as they seem to be popular right now, but they are out there. Next, we'll be looking at some of the 7800 GT graphics cards that have just been released, so be on the look-out for those soon.
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VideoQuasar - Monday, August 22, 2005 - link
I must have missed the SPECViewperf 8.1 test portion, or the Cinebench 2003. Are those on hidden pages along with the PureVideo aspects of the card?These 7800 cards might compete with a mid-range Quadro or Fire card...but I don't know do I !
The reviwers seem to be more interested in which cards come with a BF2 bundle,When you buy 2 for SLI....you can load both...WOW.
walkure - Friday, August 26, 2005 - link
You people complaining about "yet another review" are idiots. If you don't wanna read it, don't click it!!!I had not read a single review of any of the cards up to right now. I came to the site looking for one, and I found it. Thank you AT.
I did want to see some comparisons to last generation's cards, like the 6800 Ultra, X800, etc, but I suppose that's found in another article...
bonhimself - Thursday, August 18, 2005 - link
Okay this might sound stupid, but are the tests here in SLi or just a single card? I want to be sure of performance because I'm thinking of getting one of these 7800'sbob661 - Friday, August 19, 2005 - link
Both.
Quiksel - Thursday, August 18, 2005 - link
I'm glad I'm not the only one bitchin about these articles. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw YET ANOTHER 7800GTX REVIEW on AT.Jarred, I know you've been trying to defend the rationale behind so many reviews of the same tech, but SERIOUSLY, this is ridiculous. I want to believe that you guys aren't just trying to milk the readers for more page hits, but I'm really starting to worry. I'm a big fan of AT, and this kind of stuff is just getting out of hand, IMO.
Please, no more 7800GTX Reviews. For the love of God, please.
PrinceGaz - Thursday, August 18, 2005 - link
Yeah, I think most AT readers now believe this "lets review every 7800GTX card we get our hands on" individually approach is ludicrous. There's so little difference between most of them, and the differences found in overclocking even with the few (one so far) that hasn't been a reference design, are almost certainly down to random variations in the individual core and memory chips. Actually overclocking tests with samples sent from manufacturers are always suspect, and you should always rely on what are reported in the forums from people who have bought the cards to get a good idea on how well they overclock. I agree with the idea of AT overclocking the cards to find how far they go, but that is really only a minor point of the review.For all intents and purposes, all the 7800GTX cards you review are identical, unless they have a quieter fan, or a large heatsink that takes up extra slots which would deserve mention for that reason. The game bundle may differ and you might mention that, or what dongles and cables are included, but that's about all that matters and it certainly doesn't warrant a seperate review for every card.
With all these 7800GTX reviews, I seem to have missed AT's review of an X800GT card which will be of more interest to far more readers. I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing you would call a halt to these ongoing 7800GTX reviews that only a tiny minority of your readers will buy, and instead look at more mainstream products and how they impact that market sector. AT is becoming more elitist by the day, what with concentrating only on the very top gfx-cards, CPUs, memory, etc, and will lose its readers if it continues down this path.
Trap - Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - link
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant....">http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant...e=190377...DerekWilson - Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - link
This is not the Overclocked version of the card.HardwareD00d - Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - link
actually, it is overclocked:Memory clock: 1.25 MHz (vs. 1.2MHz Standard)
Engine clock: 450 MHz (vs. 430MHz Standard)
but not as much as the version in the review. Still, seems to be a damn good deal considering the card is being scalped for close to $600 at many places.
Igi - Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - link
This and previous reviews of 7800GTX cards were extremely superficial. After reading the last review many questions still remain unanswered. We all know that we won’t see miracles if all the cards use GPUs clocked at similar frequencies. In other words, I don’t care if one card is 2 fps faster than the other in Doom3 at 1600x1200, what I’m interested in are features, for example:- What is the max DVI resolution for both DVI slots?
- Can I drive two Dell 2405FPW LCDs with a single 7800GTX at 1920x1200@60Hz? I had a bad experience in the past with nVidia cards, where max. resolution on primary DVI was limited to 1600x1200. Only the secondary DVI, connected via silicon image TDMS transceiver was able to drive 2405 panel at 1920x1200.
- Can I drive 30” Apple cinema Display at 2560x1600? In other words, is there any 7800GTX card available with a dual-link DVI slot? I know that so far only some quadro cards are able to drive hi-res displays.
- I don’t remember TV-OUT was tested in any review. What is the max TV-OUT resolution 720p, 1080i?
- Which inputs are present on the card? S-Video, Composite?
- Can I downclock the GPU to let’s say 200MHz or even lower to achieve silent operation during normal work?